About ICSU ROLAC

¿What is ICSU ROLAC?

The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) is part of a new worldwide strategy of ICSU. Following its Strategic Plan 2006-2010, ICSU also established Regional Offices for Africa and Asia & the Pacific, and is negotiating a Regional Office for the Arab Region. The goal of all Regional Offices is two-fold. First, they help to ensure that the regional priorities are reflected in the international ICSU strategic development. Second, they enhance the participation of scientists and scientific organizations from the region in ICSU's research and policy activities, and enable ICSU to play a more effective role in strengthening science within the context of regional priorities and building capacity through collaboration. Regional offices therefore play a crucial role in supporting the work of ICSU and its Scientific Unions, National Members in the Region, Interdisciplinary Bodies, as well as its partners such as UNESCO and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

ICSU ROLAC Mission

The mission of the ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is to ensure that the regional priorities are reflected in the ICSU Strategic Plan and to develop sound regional scientific programs. In detail, its objectives are:

To assist ICSU and its members in their strategic planning for activities in Latin America and the Caribbean and to ensure that their plans and activities are well linked to the science community and to relevant networks and organizations in the region;

To identify and elaborate science and policy priorities in the region, to enhance ICSU’s knowledge about these priorities and to facilitate the collaboration between ICSU and scientists and policy makers in the region to address these priorities;

To promote and facilitate capacity building in Latin America and the Caribbean;

To implement the science plans of the four ICSU ROLAC scientific priority areas biodiversity, natural hazards, sustainable energy, and mathematics education. The Regional Office coordinates the activities proposed and executed by the Regional Committee members concerning the ICSU ROLAC priority areas;

To strengthen the links between ICSU and its National Members and Regional Contacts of Scientific Union members in Latin America and the Caribbean;

To facilitate the expansion and active membership of ICSU to institutions in Latin American and Caribbean countries, which are not yet members of ICSU;

To assist in the integration of key regional scientists and institutions into existing ICSU programs and initiatives. Of special relevance is the integration of ICSU ROLAC’s scientific priority areas biodiversity and natural hazards into the respective global ICSU initiatives;

To collaborate with the ICSU Regional Offices for Africa (ROA) and Asia Pacific (ROAP) as well as with ICSU headquarters in Paris to assure the integration of ICSU ROLAC’s work into the global agenda of ICSU.

ICSU ROLAC vision

Science is used for the benefit of all, excellence in science is valued and scientific knowledge is effectively linked to policymaking.

Universal and equitable access to high quality scientific data and information is a reality and all countries have the scientific capacity to use these and to contribute to generating the new knowledge that is necessary to establish their own development pathways in a sustainable manner.